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Dropbox VS. Google Drive

By Harriette Modified on: September 29, 2015 Published on : June 12, 2013Harriette

Dropbox VS. Google Drive Which is Batter DropBox or Google Drive

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Dropbox and Google Drive are both excellent cloud storage options. Both are cloud-based and both offer many features. Not sure which one to use? Here’s a comparative look at both.

Dropbox VS. Google Drive: Pricing and Price Details

Both Dropbox and Google Drive are free to use – almost. Dropbox offers 2GB of free storage and Google Drive offers 5GB of free storage. If you need to exceed those limitations, paid subscriptions are available. You can purchase a Dropbox paid subscription plan starting at $9.99 per month (100GB), and a paid Google Drive plan starting at $2.49 per month (25GB).

Dropbox also offers ways to earn extra storage space. If you sign up for the service using Facebook, you can get an extra 125MB of storage. You can also get 125MB of storage if you recommend friends to the service. What about sharing capacity?

Dropbox VS. Google Drive: Sharing On Google Drive VS. Dropbox

The whole point of a cloud-based service like Dropbox or Drive is to share files through the cloud with friends and coworkers. When it comes to file sharing, both services excel, though Google Drive comes with one drawback: you can only open files using Google Docs.

Both Drive and Dropbox offer desktop folder options that make it simple to drag and drop files into any folder that you want to share. When it comes to sharing, these two services are closely comparable, though you may want to consider Dropbox if you don’t want to use Google Docs.

Dropbox VS. Google Drive: File Support

A cloud-based file sharing service that doesn’t support various file types can be hard to use. Dropbox supports photos, Photoshop files, music files, PDFs, documents of most types, and videos. Google’s Drive supports a lot more file types including Adobe options.

Drive also allows you to open up any file type directly within your browser. This basic feature simplifies the file opening process, since downloads are not necessary. With Dropbox, you can open and view files in your browser, but you will have to download a file in order to edit it.

Dropbox VS. Google Drive: Sharing Options

When you’re ready to share a file that’s been added to a Dropbox folder, all you have to do is open up that folder on your desktop and share away. To share with Google Drive, you have to open up a web browser – this is a key difference.

With Dropbox, you can share a file simply by providing someone with a link, or dropping a file into a shared folder (this file will automatically synch with another person’s Dropbox desktop app). To share via Google Drive, you have to send someone a link via email.

Dropbox VS. Google Drive: Compatibility and Security Concerns

Security is always a concern when it comes to cloud-based services like Dropbox and Google Drive. Both sites are highly secure with identical two-step authentication security features.

As far as compatibility goes, Dropbox is compatible with Linux, Windows, iOS, Android, Mac, and BlackBerry. Google Drive works with iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows – no BlackBerry or Linux compatibility.

Which cloud-based file sharing service wins? Dropbox offers more versatility as far as sharing, compatibility, and ease goes. Google Drive is handy if you want a simpler way to share, and you don’t mind sharing via email (just make sure that the person you’re sharing with isn’t using BlackBerry or Linux).

In the end, though, Dropbox is the better (albeit, more expensive) option.